Molecular confirmation and anthelmintic efficacy assessment against natural trichurid infections in zoo-housed non-human primates.

Abstract

This study aimed to assess Trichuris species infection and evaluate the anthelmintic efficacy of fenbendazole and ivermectin against natural trichurid infections in non-human primates (NHPs), kept at Mahendra Chaudhury (MC) Zoological Park, Chhatbir, India. Molecular confirmation of Trichuris infection was carried out using polymerase chain reaction targeting internal transcribed spacer sequences, and anthelmintic efficacy was assessed by fecal egg count reduction test, respectively. A 710 base pair product confirmed Trichuris species infection in NHPs. Fenbendazole, 10mg/kg body weight orally for 5 consecutive days and ivermectin, 100μg/kg body weight orally for 3 alternate days proved effective and showed a maximum fecal egg reduction of 99.20% and 100% (P<.05) at day 7 post-treatment. This study highlighted the molecular confirmation of Trichuris species in non-human primates and its management using fenbendazole and ivermectin.